Germany: New Internet Legislation Embarrasses German Government

DE – New Internet Legislation Embarrasses German Government: “(Der Spiegel) A new bill to fight child pornography has been signed into law by Germany’s president. There’s only one problem: The government has decided it no longer wants it. They are now in the awkward position of relying on opposition help to repeal the legislation. It was supposed to be an initiative to stop child pornography on the Internet. But now the German government finds itself in a uniquely awkward situation after a bill which it no longer wanted was signed into law by the country’s president. German President Horst Köhler signed the law after deciding that there were ‘no significant concerns’ regarding the law’s compatibility with the German constitution. The Access Impediment Law, as it is known, is aimed at combating child pornography and allows access to offensive Web sites to be blocked.
However the German coalition government, which pairs Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives with the business-friendly Free Democratic Party, has decided it no longer wants the law, which was massively opposed by Internet users. Instead of blocking access to Web sites, it now wants to delete offensive Internet content instead.